How would she know? She was the only person she’d ever known who was adopted. And wouldn’t that have been nice to have known as she was growing up.

Darcy ran her fingers over the print on the official document. Born at Nashville General Hospital.

She sat back on the couch. She’d come full circle to where her life started. Now the man she had feelings for was imbedded in the company that her investigator had sent her to because someone there had something to do with her.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Were there two people at Benson, Benson, and Hart who held a secret—her secret?

Time had slipped away, again, and Ed sat in his office staring out over the river as the sun went down.

The build in Georgia was going to be extensive. The proposal they’d worked on all day would be right there in Nashville. And he had to admit, to himself, that it was going to be a delight to have Darcy there. In the week they’d worked together, she had organized everything.

Of course, there was the obvious as well…she’d done a job on him.

Ed loosened his tie and pulled it off. He laid it on the desk. He looked up when he heard a tapping on the door. Zach stood there, his own tie loose around his neck and his suit coat draped over his arm.

“Your aunt would like to invite you to dinner.”

“Is she cooking?”

Zach laughed. “She hasn’t done much of that since the boys moved away from home. Either she’s living large or is in denial.”

Ed smiled. “I think that would be nice.”

“Darcy already left for the night?”

“Yes. She’ll be sleeping at her desk soon enough, especially with the Georgia and Nashville builds.”

“You know,” he smiled, “your aunt and I did a lot of late nights and trips away from the office.”

Ed bit down on the inside of her cheek. “You assume I hired Darcy for something other than her ability to run my office.”

“No. I just think there is more there than her being just an assistant.”

That was something he didn’t want to be obvious. He was having a hard enough time with that himself.

“I don’t think that would be a very good idea.”

“You can’t help fate. I mean, she did run right into you, right?”

“That doesn’t mean history is going to repeat itself.”

Zach shrugged. “You never know.” He turned to leave. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

It was late when Ed got home, and all he wanted to do was climb into bed.

Dinner with Regan and Zach Benson was always a treat, and Ed appreciated it when they spent time with him. Zach had become a very important person in his life at just the right time—a role model. He hoped that he’d been a role model for their children.

Regan had wanted to hear, first hand, about the new assistant. She was a bit too thrilled that he’d “bumped into her” and then hired her.

Ed hoped he hadn’t given her any reaction when she began planning a future for him and Darcy. The truth was, though he’d had an undeniable attraction to her, he knew it would wean off. If he’d been able to keep a woman, he’d be married. But Ed Keller was all about his job, and that left very little time for anything else.

His mother had said that the right woman just hadn’t come around yet. His father said he was doing the right thing by holding off. Zach had been something like forty by the time he’d gotten married, and Ed thought he still was quite a vibrant man in his sixties. Of course, age had never been an issue with Ed. He’d been a hard worker and had climbed the corporate ladder, rung by rung. He was already seated in the V.P. chair by the time anyone knew he was Zach’s nephew. There was nothing anyone could say. He’d started at the very bottom. In fact, he owed as much of his success in life to his Uncle John for letting him get his hands dirty on a lot of projects that no one else would take on.

He could plan out the greatest builds and help build skyscrapers from drawing to grand opening. He had all the tools. There wasn’t a job on the site that Ed Keller hadn’t done himself.

That’s what had humored Regan the most. How could Ed do every job in an organization as big as Benson, Benson, and Hart and not be able to find a girl? But one had bumped right into him, and he’d hired her. That was an act of commitment right there! If Ed couldn’t make life work so that he’d have a little love in there, his aunt figured the next best thing would be for it to just “happen” along—and it had.

But Ed didn’t want those kinds of complications in the workplace. He didn’t fancy dating his assistant. For one, if they dated and things didn’t work out, then he was back in the same boat he was in a week ago. And on the other hand, if they did work out, it would be awkward and again…he’d end up back where he was a week ago when Darcy decided to go home and raise babies.

Ed fixed his pillows, laced his hands under his head, and laid back.

He’d gone too far with that last thought. Babies.

Tomorrow would certainly be a challenge. His entire family would be at that fundraiser. Each and every one of them knew how he met Darcy, and it must have been just a little obvious that there were sparks between them. Well, sparks could be extinguished as well as a blazing fire.

Ed shifted in his bed to get comfortable. A plan brewed in his head.

Distance. That’s what he needed from Darcy—distance.

He’d send the car for her tomorrow. Christian would be at the fundraiser, and Darcy McCary was plenty comfortable with his brother, though that piece of information clawed at him. But, if he was going to keep some space between them, this would be the perfect opportunity.

Yes, if he didn’t show up to the fundraiser with Darcy on his arm, and she came as only an employee—alone, they’d all have to leave alone this silly notion of fate happening again.

Darcy looked in the mirror and smiled. The black cocktail dress she’d brought with her to Tennessee looked nice. She’d gone out and bought a new pair of high heels, using the money her father had sent her, as well as a pair of cheap, but fancy earrings.

Her hair was pulled back to the base of her neck and rolled into a low bun. This showed off the earrings even better.

By all accounts, she figured she was ready for the evening with the Keller family—and Ed.

Butterflies fought for space in her stomach. Certainly they wouldn’t stay all night. At some point, it would all ease.